I need oatmeal....or an ark.

I've been working at a temporary job this summer, and it's and EARLY job. This week the office manager was gone, went to California with her family. Then, with all the flooding in our area our surgery scheduler was not able to make it to work the last two days. Bottom line - they have been letting the new girl (me) who knows nothing (or next to it) run the surgery center office. I've been running my but off, and stressing big time. Thank goodness tomorrow is FRIDAY - hey!

So when tension is running high I think it's important to eat something good for you, like oatmeal! I wouldn't have thought of it, but one of the nurses had a bowl of oatmeal this morning on her break and it smelled so good. I always put extra cinnamon, nuts, cranberries, etc.. in mine and it's a big treat.

Since it's hot I thought a bowl of oatmeal was not the answer. I watched Giada make these bars a couple of weeks ago on tv and they looked yummy (singing the last word). I do like granola bars, so thought this was a safe one to try. I added the cranberries for color, plus I love them.

APRICOT OAT BARS

vegetable oil cooking spray
13 oz jar apricot preserves (about 1 1/4 cup)
8 dried apricots chopped into 1/4" pieces (about 1/3 cup)
1/3 cup dried cranberries or craisins

1 3/4 cups flour
1 cup light brow sugar, packed
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda

1 3/4 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup walnuts coarsely chopped

2 sticks butter, melted
1 egg room temp, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract


Put oven rack in the center of oven. Preheat to 350*. Spray a 9x13 metal baking dish w/veg oil spray. Line the bottom and sides of the pan w/parchment paper. Spray the parchment paper with veg oil spray and set aside.

In a small bowl mix together the preserves cranberries and apricots. Set aside.

In large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon , salt and baking soda. Stir in the oats and nuts. Add the butter, egg and vanilla and stir until blended well.

Using a fork or clean hands, lightly press 1/2 of the crust mixture onto the bottom of the pan. Using a spatula spread the filling over the crust leaving 1/2" border around the edge. Cover the filling with the rest of the crust mixture and gently press to flatten. Bake until light golden, about 30 min. Cool for 1 hour and cut into bars. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Monday-chicken, Tuesday-chicken, Wednesday-chicken....

We eat a LOT of chicken. Occasionally my favorite store has chicken breasts with the skin and ribs still attached at a super duper price. Last weekend only .88 a pound for the family pack! This is a great way to buy it for making chicken salad, or for casseroles because it is going to have much more flavor than buying skinless/boneless + it's a money saver. :o)

This recipe was originally for the oven, and it called for a roasting chicken. Have you priced roasting chickens lately? They are expensive! It also called for butter spread on the outside of the chicken. If you are so inclined, go for it but I decided to cut the calories. A whole 5-6 lb.roasting chicken in the oven at 425* will take 1 1/2 hours if it is trussed. Use a roasting pan and be sure to put some of the ingredients into the cavity of the chicken.

Roasted Slow Cook Chicken

3 1/2 - 4 lb chicken breasts (or other pieces)
kosher salt
fresh ground or restaurant pepper
several springs of thyme 8-10 ish
1/2 lemon
6 cloves garlic peeled
1 medium onion cut in 1/2" slices
4 carrots cut into 1" pieces

Wash the chicken and pat dry with a paper towel. Place in a slow cooker and sprinkle generously with pepper and salt. In between chicken pieces place the sprigs of thyme, garlic cloves, onion and carrots. Squeeze the lemon juice over all and cut the lemon rind in half and put that in as well. Cook the chicken for 3 hours on med high or until the juices run clear when you slice it.

oo oo ah ah

I realized something awesome this weekend. I wanted to make monkey bread for breakfast, but thought it would make way to much for the two of us to eat. Then I thought, ah-ha! How about if I made a mini monkey breakfast? What took me so long to think of this!?

Monkey Bread for Two

1 tube of refrigerated biscuits
1/8 (maybe a little more) cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 stick margarine
chopped nuts

Cut each biscuit in 4 pieces and shake it in the sugar and cinnamon that has been mixed together. After each piece is coated, drop into a small oven safe bowl. The one I used was a Pyrex oval dish that holds just under 4 cups, round would be fine or a bread pan. Be sure to spray it with nonstick spray first!! Throw in some chopped nuts occasionally, as much as you like. Heat the brown sugar and margarine until it comes to a boil Pour over the biscuits and bake @ 350* for 20-25 min. If it's getting dark - cover loosely with foil the last part of the baking time. Immediately invert onto a plate and go for it!

Original full recipe post was February 22, 2009

Someone's in the kitchen

What a great weekend it has been so far! Last weekend was also stellar! On a summer time roll I think :-) !!

Last weekend was my class reunion here in Norfolk. Probably 90-ish classmates made it back to play the name game. So many people to catch up with, it was tough to find enough time to visit with everyone I wanted to. Wish it could have lasted longer. We had so much fun planning it, that I think our reunion committee is going to continue to have 'meetings'!

Last night we took a road trip with our besties Nancy & Bill. Went 20 miles to a tiny town of 52 people to eat at a chicken/fish buffet. From there went to a Kolach festival about another 40 miles down the road then back tracked 30 miles to the drive-in theater to watch the new Karate Kid! None of it was planned, we just like to take off and see where we land sometimes.

Today I was looking through some cookbooks I got for teacher appreciation week. I got 3 new ones and they are g-o-o-d. I found today's recipe that I will make again very very soon. So yummy, and much better than the version you can buy at Starbucks or other coffee places.

BISCOTTI
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup white sugar
6 Tbsp butter
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg beaten

2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 325* and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Stir together the flour, 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, baking powder and salt, set aside. In a medium bowl, cream together the 2/3 cup sugar and butter. Beat in 1 egg, egg yolk and vanilla. Stir in the dry ingredients.

On a lightly floured surface divide dough into two pieces. Roll each piece into a log about 9" long and 1 1/2" wide. Place logs on the prepared baking sheet and flatten slightly. Brush with the beaten egg.

Bake for 25-30 min in the oven until golden and firm to the touch. Cool for 15 minutes.

On a cutting board slice each log crosswise at a diagonal into 1/2" slices using a serrated knife. Place back on the baking sheet cut side down and sprinkle with the mixture of the remaining cinnamon and sugar. Return to the oven for another 15-20 min until toasted. Cool on wire racks and store in an airtight container.

Great with coffee!

Potato, Patotto

What a fun weekend it has been! First of all it's great because I have slept in for 3 consecutive mornings now....yahoo! In case you missed it, I have taken a summer job that gets me up at 4AM. You can feel sorry for me now, since I am NOT a morning person. The second reason it's great is because James came home from Lincoln for a couple of days, always a fun time. The third reason is that we have been able to spend lots of time with friends and that is always a WIN-WIN situation!!

I made a yummy potato Sunday for lunch that is fast and E-A-S-Y, and I think you all should try it out this summer. With farmers markets offering those cute little baby red potatoes there is nothing holding you back, so get busy!!










HASSELBACK POTATOES
with herbed sour cream

16 oz red new potatoes
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced - more if they are small cloves
4 Tbsp butter, melted
2 Tbsp olive oil
kosher salt
freshly ground pepper or restaurant pepper

Preheat oven to 375*
Using a wooden spoon as a cradle, place each potato in the spoon and make several parallel slits in the top, making sure not to slice completely through. (I did not have a wooden spoon deep enough, so I used a large serving spoon) Place a garlic slice between each slit at the top of the potato. Toss in a medium bowl with butter and olive oil to coat thoroughly.
Place on a baking sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake until tops are crispy and potatoes are cooked through, about 45 min. Transfer to a platter and top with herbed sour cream .

HERBED SOUR CREAM
1/2 C sour cram
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh chives
Combine in a small bowl and season as needed with s&p.

The OTHER white meat.

Today was my first day of summer vacation! Last night I had 22 preschool graduates in their cute little hats receiving their diplomas, it was a fun evening. So, today I did a lot of odd jobs around the house, one of the things I did was clean out my fridge, some of it anyway.

I am sad to admit that we really do end up wasting more food then we should. I found the last couple of slices of a great pork roast that we made, and if I don't post the recipe on here I'll never find it again to repeat the meal!

This recipe has some zing, and I do like zing these days. We cook a lot of pork because it's so economical, this is a variation that I really enjoyed. We had it with a kicked-up mashed potato, oh it was g-o-o-d!

Rosemary Pork Tenderloin

1/3 cup Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons restaurant black pepper
1 tablespoon freshly chopped rosemary leaves, plus 4 sprigs rosemary, with hard woody stems
2 large garlic cloves
2 pork tenderloins, about 1-pound each
2 slices bacon

In a small bowl, whisk together the Dijon mustard, fresh ground black pepper, chopped rosemary, and minced garlic and mix well. Rub the mustard mixture over the surface of the tenderloins and wrap in plastic wrap. Marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Place rosemary sprigs in the center of a roasting pan. Remove the plastic wrap from the tenderloins and top each with 1 slices of bacon. You may tie with kitchen twine to secure bacon strips, I just laid mine on top and it worked fine.
Place the roasting pan in the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer, inserted in the tenderloins, registers 160-170 degrees F. Remove from oven when desired doneness is reached and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes on a cutting board. Remove kitchen twine, slice and serve with your favorite sides.

Here kitty, kitty!

How many of you make puppy chow? I made it when my kids were young, and I find that the "younger" faculty members that I work with seem to have an indescribable love for it. I have not made it for a while, however when I was in Lincoln last weekend at the Farmers Market I saw a new version that was fun. It was called Kitty Chow - and instead of using Crispix cereal, they used Kix! I was intrigued enough that I came home and googled it, and today I tried it out. I took half of it to a co-worker and the other half is being appreciated by MY better half. If you have young kids or are young at heart you better give this one a try!!

KITTY CHOW
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter
1 cup chocolate chips-semi sweet
1/2 tsp vanilla
6 cups Kix cereal balls
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Microwave the peanut butter, butter and chocolate chips together for about 1 min. in the microwave, stirring after 30 seconds. Once it's melted stir in the vanilla and pour it over the Kix cereal in a large bowl. Make sure you thoroughly coat all of the cereal. Pour the powdered sugar into a large sack and add your chocolate covered Kix. Close securely and shake like crazy! I ended up adding more powdered sugar because it wasn't powdery enough for me, you decide how much you want!